Philippines - Anilao - Macro Heaven

The small fantastic world is always there, you just need to look, join us in Macro diving - Anilao of Philippines to spend a Big-Small adventure diving trip!

Just a two-and-a-half hour drive south of Manila, Anilao, is regarded as the birthplace of diving in the Philippines. There is something for everyone here - from snorkeling, to sites for both novices and the experienced diver.

In the mid-1960's, a whole coral reef was transplanted onto a large rock formation close to the shore. Contrary to popular belief at the time that the adventure would fail, the coral has flourished. As a result, diving has developed and is at the forefront of the industry in the Philippines to this day.

Visibility is good and the opportunities for photography are excellent. Unfortunately, as the area has developed, so some of the more negative aspects of this have become evident. In particular, dynamiting, collection of corals and shells and over fishing are just some of the challenges that Anilao and Batangas must face. Luckily, these are being addressed. Most of the best dives are actually found around the islands of Sombrero and Maricaban, a short boat trip away from Anilao.

A short drive north of Anilao is the quiet town of Nasugbu where good diving is abundant, so get out your magnifying glasses and your cameras and be prepared to swim with your head down.

Dive Sites

Move the mouse over dive flags for dive site information

This is a Marine Park Sanctuary and probably one of the most popular sites in Mabini. There is a miniature underwater castle structure and a famous cross! Hence the name "Cathedral". This concrete cross was installed by former Philippines president Fidel V. Ramos, when he was then a Constabulary chief. Here you can find in the shallow area a plethora of colorful hard and soft corals along the gentle slope and sandy bottom. There are two rock pinnacles nearby the cross at 18m/60ft, and is covered with soft corals, huge gorgonian sea fans and a variety of reef fish. Divers can find octopus, pygmy seahorses, green sea turtles, giant frog fish and marble sting rays. Gray Bamboo sharks may be encountered closer to 30 meters for divers who have deep diving experience. Excelent place for a night dive.

This is an easy dive site similar to Cathedral. There is a gentle sandy slope covered with colorful hard and soft corals from 8m/25ft to 18m/60ft. Divers can enjoy a plethora of reef fish, large barrel sponges, nudibranches and colorful crinoids (feather stars). This site is also home to the protected giant clams (tridacna maxima). Great for night dives.

Slight to moderate current, visibility is about 10m/33ft. The way to dive here can be one way or return to the boat depending on the current. Bonito has a long slope sandy bottom with a mix of scattered big and small rocks with crushed corals, such as big basket corals and soft sponges. The site is ideal for underwater photography and for beginner divers. it offers wide range of clown fish, dart fish and reef fish.

This is an easy dive site suitable for novice divers and the enthusiastic photographer. This site is often visited by green turtles, white tip reef sharks and a shoal of yellow tail Barracuda and a variety of groupers, black sail fin goby, anemones, flamboyant cuttlefish and pygmy seahorse. Great for night dives. Look for huge decorator crabs and pleurobrancus during the night dives.

This site is similar to Koala. It has a gentle slope with interesting boulder formations where a variety of groupers and snappers can be found. On the shallow slope divers can see plenty of soft corals, barrel sponges, colorful whip corals and gorgonians sea fans.

This site is a macro heaven for photographers. A good dive guide will be able to find pygmy seahorses and pink squat lobsters hiding in the barrel sponges. Slight to moderate current along shore side moving toward Mainit point. Sweet lips and shoals of chevron barracuda can be found on this site. Great for night dives.

This site is a gradual slope with algae, hydroids, feather stars, sponges and sometimes with schools of treavaley, barracuda and squid. The condition is calm with slight-moderate current.

Mainit means "Hot". Current is usually present due to its proximity to Maricaban Strait. The dive spot has shallow sandy bottom mixed with soft and hard corals and a sudden drop off to a slope of more than 30m/100ft. The drop off is a formation of boulder rocks covered with a variety of soft corals. Plenty of pelagic fish can be seen around this area including great barracudas, surgeon fish, blue fin jacks, rainbow runners and Giant tuna. Below the rocks, divers may encounter patrolling dog tooth tunas, shoals of long fin banner fish and occasionally white tip, black tip and grey reef sharks. There is always something exciting to find at this advance dive site.

A gradual slope dive site, which is calm with moderate current. The name was derived from the name of the school within the vicinity. It has an abundance of fish but corais are not as colourful as in Mainit Point.

It is generally an easy site. There is an underwater mound covered with crinolds (feather star), nudibranches, colorful soft corals and plenty of reef fish. The most noticeable landmark is the red wall rocks at the entry area. Another macro heaven as divers can find blue spotted sting rays, snappers and groupers, frog fish, nudibranchs, whip coral goby and porcelain crabs.

This site is ideal for novice divers and macro photographers. Divers can find zebra gobys, yellow goby shrimp, devil fish and more. The dive here can often be done by beach entry for training and entry from boat for fun divers which move toward the Bahay Kambing area.

There can be slight to moderate current with visibility ranging from 10-15m/30-45ft. This site has a sloped sandy bottom with a mix of scattered big and small rocks and covered with a variety of hard corals and barrel sponges. The site is ideal for macro underwater photography as divers can find some unique and rare kinds of nudibranchs.

This is a popular dive site nearby Caban Cove. Visibility ranges from 10m-20m/33ft-66ft. Current is slight to moderate moving west ward most of the time. Divers generally start on the slope of the wall and follow down towards a big boulder where divers can find colorful gorgonian sea fans and plenty of nudibranchs and long nose hawk fish. Beneath the outcrops, there are a lot of yellow lined and harlequin sweep lips. This area is frequented by painted and clown frog fish, pygmy seahorses, twin spotted lion fish, sea snakea, octopus, small shoals of trevally and its resident purple fire and blue lined chart goby. Also ideal for snorkellers.

This is a favourite dive site for more experienced divers. Visibility range from 10-30m/33-100ft and there can be strong currents present. Bahura is a shallow reef in mid ocean about 5m/16ft shallow. Divers can be sure to encounter some amazing pelagic fish including grey reef sharks, eagle rays, devil rays, shoals of barracuda, trevally and manta rays. It is recommended for the group to exit at the same time and with the use of an SMB (Surface Marker Bouy) upon surfacing due to boat traffic.

Divers may experience some currents in this area. The visibility ranges from 10-15m/33-50ft. This site has a long shallow area of scattered big boulders covered with thick formations of branching hard corals. It has a shallow sandy drop off covered by natually crushed corals with makes it a great nesting place for red toothed trigger fish. The shallow area is fantastic for discovering a variety of reef fish, an occasional sea snake, green sea turtles, squids and octopus. This site is great for snorkeling.

This is a mirror wreck (part of the parking of a casino hotel) with lots of macro marine life. It is of interest to many underwater photographers. Divers can find mandarin fish and crab eye gobies. Along the hollowed out frame structure, divers can encounter shoals of bat fish, catfish, groupers, juvenile sweep lips, frog figh, leaf fish and a variety of nudibranchs and colorful anthias.

This site has a calm surface but with a very strong current. It has three coral mounds with lots of fishes, tuna, jack, sea turtle and shark.

This gradual and steep slope site has a calm condition with strong current. It was the wife of DBP who discovered this site located from the north of Sombrero and only 15min away from Sombrero Island. There are abundant of black and corals, sea stars, anemones and a lot more.

"Sombrero's" hat shaped island is a great site for large fish encounters. It is densely populated with marine fauna, lots of nudibranchs where sometimes they are actually mating or fighting; lots of small caverns along the drop off are inhabited by thousands of red toothed trigger fish, groupers, lion fish and lots of colorful anthias that turns the water red occasionally. In mid water beside the drop off, divers can encounter rainbow runners, surgeon fish, fusiliers and starry eyes puffer fish.

This site is known for its scenic wall dive. The wall itself is mainly covered with a variety of multi colored soft coral. In the shallow sandy bottom area, divers can find painted frog fish and leaf fish, twin spotted lion fish, scorpion fish and anemone fish and a multitude of reef fish.

This submerged rock is surrounded by a shallow area at 12m (40ft), which ends in a series of drop-offs down to 40m (130ft). The area is large, and the currents can be really strong. This dive site is for experienced divers only. The marine life is plentiful and varied. Pelagic marine life like white tip and grey reef sharks can be seen.

Main attraction is the long vertical wall of solid big rock that lies beneath the water just a little bit smaller than Sepoc wall. The top portion partly submerged in water and extend to depth of about 18m/60ft. Ideal for wall diving, current diving and underwater photography (while hovering) when there's little or no current with multi color gracefully soft coral, while the rest of the bottom are hard corals, in the deeper sandy bottom area where you can find some small frog and leaf fish in between small formations of hard branching corals.

This site is situated in the southwest point of Maricaban Island. The visibility can range from 10-18m/30-60ft. There is a colorful coral slope, it has two pinnacle rocks coated with an abundance of soft corals, elephant ear, gorgonian sea fans, tree coral and leather coral and many more. In the deeper area sweet lips, blue fin jacks and dog tooth tuna can be seen.

The dive site is a slope with a slight drop off with two big boulders of big rocks like Cathedrals where some of big groupers, bat fish and snappers reside in between of these rocks. On the shallow area you will see a wide variety of soft corals, sponges, lots of whip corals and some small gorgonians. Sharks can be seen occasionally on shallow lower caves down the slope at about 20 to 25 meters. Lots of rare nudibranchs and ribbon eels can be spotted on this dive site.

This slope and drop-site has a calm condition with moderate current. There are abundant corals and fishes.

Shallow ledges, at about 15-25ft surround these two Marine Sanctuary's. This site is calm with strong currents and has patches of coral heads, sea stars, sea urchins, sting rays and moray eels on a sandy slope. Currents can be rough and ferocious but you can find sheltered and quiet patches. This is also good for fish feeding since there is an area for that. Between these two islands, there is an underwater hotspring. This is also good for macro photography.

Itinerary

Day 1 (July 20th) - Departure
Meet together and check in at Pudong airport around 22:00 in the late evening.

Day 2 (July 21st) - Get to Anilao / 2 boat dives and unlimited shore diving
Arrive at Manila in the early morning and transport to Anilao and check in at local dive resort.
2 boat dive in the morning and unlimited shore diving (or another 2 optional boat dives) in the afternoon。
Stay overnight at Aqua Venture dive resort.

Day 4 (July 23rd) - Dry day and Back to Shanghai
NO DIVE today, free leisure in the morning.
Check out after lunch, transport to Manila International Airport.
Take the flight and get back to Shanghai around 11:45pm.

* Any dive site is available but dependant on weather conditions.

Hotel Information - Aquaventure

Aquaventure Reef Club is located in the Anilao area of Batangas, Luzon's premier dive destination. It is a two and a half hours drive south of Manila but once you get there, you are a mere five minutes away from an unforgettable diving adventure. The resplendent colors of corals found in Anilao's waters make the place ideal for underwater photography. Need to take a break from diving (although we can't imagine why you’d want to)? Aquaventure's location is also perfect for swimming and snorkeling. Or get out of the water and have a beach picnic. Better still, explore the many neighboring islands on our outrigger boats.

Please remember to purchase the weight of the total amount that includes the personal stuff and the equipment when you book the flight ticket, otherwise the airport will issue a charge of 400PHP (about 60RMB) / KG for each flight.

Reservation & cancellation

Please email or call before July 5th , 2017 to check availability.

50% deposit is necessary to secure your seat, the remaining balance must be paid 15 days before departure.

For cancellations less than 15 days before the trip we are not able to give refunds.

If you need a reservation or have any question, please contact us by sending email to info@big-blue.cn or call +86(21)6291-2110.